There has been much attention focused on the protection of copyrighted computer readable media, including image, audio, and video, through tests on the integrity of the media and the legality of the software with which the media is associated.
Traditional copy protection methods that secure electronic media such as images, audio, and video include a variety of methods such as standard encryption and data marking.
Standard encryption technologies have been used in the protection of electronic media sent over networks. These technologies encrypt a stream of data on the server side and then decrypt the data on the client side, in order to deter the understanding and the stealing of the data by a third party who has access to the network.
The process of “watermarking” electronic media has been another security measure implemented to deter the frequency of illegal media copying. Typically, watermarking tools place transparent and unique identifiers onto visual content and then enable the watermarked images to be more tightly controlled by their creators.
Other copy protection schemes have focused on actively protecting media from unauthorized viewing or copying, in addition to simply labeling the media with ownership and copyright information. Such schemes typically include the use of secure containers for electronic media and some form of encryption.
There has even been an attempt recently to establish a Global Unique Identifier that would allow media providers to link Secure Digital Music Initiative (SDMI) files to a specific computer, and thereby limit a user's ability to copy the files.
Moreover, artificial immune systems (AISs) have been designed to notice malign virus (worm, Trojan horse) entry into a computer or a computer network.